Eglinton Crosstown line

[Young]

51 minutes ago, Wayside Observer said:

Is the Mount Dennis bus garage the one that's visible from the UP Express?  I was having a bit of difficulty telling where the two transit properties divide on the map I was looking at when I looked up the address.  I'm thinking sometime this week after work I'll take a spin up to Weston and check the area out.  I haven't spent any meaningful time there ever since Kodak closed down other than to pop in to the Metrolinx open day at the MSF.  One of these days I have to tell the "calibrated torque wrench" story.

I guess could go either here or in the fishbowl nostaliga thread, but I remember talking with a friend about how many fishbowl shots transit fans must've taken from the Photography Dr. bridge across Eglinton to finish off the last few frames on the roll of Kodachrome in their camera so they could drop it off with their other films going in for processing at the corporate store.  The store was way down most of the way to the end of the huge office block, not in the building Metrolinx kept.

Yes the mount Dennis garage is behind a wall after you pass a Canada Post depot, sometimes you can see buses in the back yard of the garage from the UP train

[Someguy3071]

On 11/22/2021 at 7:37 AM, wil9402 said:

The line is owned by Metrolinx. As a result, it uses Metrolinx station naming convention which is why a lot of stations are named after the neighborhood instead of the street similar to the GO Train network. The TTC is only the operator of the line so they had no say.

Metrolinx station naming sucks. Naming GO train stops after neighborhoods is fine but on an LRT line its just creates more confusion. All those stops should have been named  after streets they are on. In addition a lot of those neighborhood names are crap. 

5 minutes ago, Someguy3071 said:

 

 

[wil9402]

23 hours ago, nfitz said:

TTC had input - see the Agenda item in November 2015. Recall how contentious it was at the time.

https://www.ttc.ca/public-meetings/board/2015/board-meetings-nov-23

Eglinton wasn't perceived negatively by the community. Initially they were going with Eglinton-Yonge - presumably Eglinton scored better

I forgot about that report. But their input was only asked since those are interchanges with existing subway stations. Regardless, you are correct. I believe the TTC board was also responsible for requesting Metrolinx to rename "Lebovic" to "Hakimi" which resulted in the stop ultimately being called "Hakimi Lebovic" as well.

22 minutes ago, Someguy3071 said:

Metrolinx station naming sucks. Naming GO train stops after neighborhoods is fine but on an LRT line its just creates more confusion. All those stops should have been named  after streets they are on. In addition a lot of those neighborhood names are crap. 

 

I couldn't agree more. At least they are putting the street name on the station walls underneath the station name similar to Bay (Yorkville). But I think they should also add it to the maps as well.

[Wayside Observer]

Metrolinx agrees to new date to complete Crosstown LRT, says credit rating agency (alternate link)

Interesting, so it's going to be late 2022 or about a year from now.

I did swing by Industry St. the other night and took a look at the Eglinton Crosstown MSF and the bus garage, and the Mt. Dennis bus garage is addressed as 121 so I totally misread the map on that one.  Either way, it's interesting to see where that bunch of equipment came from and what's there now.  What are the odds it'd end up being a TTC facility?

[Gil]

3 hours ago, Wayside Observer said:

Metrolinx agrees to new date to complete Crosstown LRT, says credit rating agency (alternate link)

Interesting, so it's going to be late 2022 or about a year from now.

I did swing by Industry St. the other night and took a look at the Eglinton Crosstown MSF and the bus garage, and the Mt. Dennis bus garage is addressed as 121 so I totally misread the map on that one.  Either way, it's interesting to see where that bunch of equipment came from and what's there now.  What are the odds it'd end up being a TTC facility?

The report mentions both September and late 2022.  Is this like the Ottawa LRT where both are true in that construction wraps up in September and then comes the testing of the full line which would push it to "late" 2022 depending on how successfully it goes?

[GTAmissions1]

5 hours ago, Gil said:

The report mentions both September and late 2022.  Is this like the Ottawa LRT where both are true in that construction wraps up in September and then comes the testing of the full line which would push it to "late" 2022 depending on how successfully it goes?

Most likely since they need to make sure that enough operators are trained to operate the rail vehicles and ensure they can run peak level service without issues. Along with other logistics to ensure efficient service delivery. I would rather take a delay to ensure that major issues are addressed rather than have a repeat of Confederation Line in Ottawa having to rely on buses. Of course TTC has the capacity to handle both 32 and 34 Eglinton routes at full service levels until it is transitioned down to a lower frequency maintaining parallel service. For those that need stops between stations or a station elevator is unavailable for those with accessibility challenges. 

Never forget how Ottawa's LRT had a requirement for operating 12 consecutive days without any major failures such as a train breakdown. If the train broke down on day 10, then it is supposed to be reset back to zero and would start from day 1. Of course the requirements were changed to accommodate the revenue service date.

[Xtrazsteve]

5 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

Most likely since they need to make sure that enough operators are trained to operate the rail vehicles and ensure they can run peak level service without issues. Along with other logistics to ensure efficient service delivery. I would rather take a delay to ensure that major issues are addressed rather than have a repeat of Confederation Line in Ottawa having to rely on buses. Of course TTC has the capacity to handle both 32 and 34 Eglinton routes at full service levels until it is transitioned down to a lower frequency maintaining parallel service. For those that need stops between stations or a station elevator is unavailable for those with accessibility challenges. 

Never forget how Ottawa's LRT had a requirement for operating 12 consecutive days without any major failures such as a train breakdown. If the train broke down on day 10, then it is supposed to be reset back to zero and would start from day 1. Of course the requirements were changed to accommodate the revenue service date.

Unlike Ottawa, TTC has experience with Flexity vehicles and rapid transit operation. Hopefully the consulted with the TTC when they designed the line. The only issue is line maintenance and Flexity reliability. Both not in control of the TTC.

[smallspy]

13 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

Most likely since they need to make sure that enough operators are trained to operate the rail vehicles and ensure they can run peak level service without issues. Along with other logistics to ensure efficient service delivery. I would rather take a delay to ensure that major issues are addressed rather than have a repeat of Confederation Line in Ottawa having to rely on buses. Of course TTC has the capacity to handle both 32 and 34 Eglinton routes at full service levels until it is transitioned down to a lower frequency maintaining parallel service. For those that need stops between stations or a station elevator is unavailable for those with accessibility challenges. 

The TTC has already started training people for the line. The first class of operators start early next year, I believe.

 

13 hours ago, GTAmissions1 said:

Never forget how Ottawa's LRT had a requirement for operating 12 consecutive days without any major failures such as a train breakdown. If the train broke down on day 10, then it is supposed to be reset back to zero and would start from day 1. Of course the requirements were changed to accommodate the revenue service date.

Historically, the TTC has required that a new rapid transit line or extension operate a simulated service for at least 2 board periods prior to opening. There is no reason to think that they wouldn't do the same here.

 

But keep in mind that there are some finishing touches that can be done in parallel with this period. Commissioning and certification of the elevating devices or the installation of signage, for instance, doesn't need to happen before the line can start its simulated service.

 

Dan

[Someguy3071]

4 hours ago, smallspy said:

The TTC has already started training people for the line. The first class of operators start early next year, I believe.

 

Historically, the TTC has required that a new rapid transit line or extension operate a simulated service for at least 2 board periods prior to opening. There is no reason to think that they wouldn't do the same here.

 

But keep in mind that there are some finishing touches that can be done in parallel with this period. Commissioning and certification of the elevating devices or the installation of signage, for instance, doesn't need to happen before the line can start its simulated service.

 

Dan

But this is a Metrolinx project and its up to them as to how long they run testing before going live. Seeing how completion has been so delayed I wouldn't be surprised if they try to rush it into service. 

I have no doubts that there will be problems and service will be down at some point. When that happens and TTC has to provide shuttle service will Metrolinx be compensating TTC for the expense? 

[smallspy]

3 hours ago, Someguy3071 said:

But this is a Metrolinx project and its up to them as to how long they run testing before going live. Seeing how completion has been so delayed I wouldn't be surprised if they try to rush it into service. 

I have no doubts that there will be problems and service will be down at some point. When that happens and TTC has to provide shuttle service will Metrolinx be compensating TTC for the expense? 

The TTC has the ultimate say over the day-to-day operations of the line. That has been pretty clearly spelled out in the contract with Metrolinx.

 

If the TTC says that it needs two board periods before launching the service, it will get two board periods.

 

Dan

[Xtrazsteve]

5 hours ago, Someguy3071 said:

I have no doubts that there will be problems and service will be down at some point. When that happens and TTC has to provide shuttle service will Metrolinx be compensating TTC for the expense? 

Since TTC is keeping the fares, they are responsible for sending out shuttles. So it’ll probably be in line with other lines. Meaning emergency shuttles never show up.

[nfitz]

4 hours ago, smallspy said:

If the TTC says that it needs two board periods before launching the service, it will get two board periods.

But, but ... Ottawa LRT only needed 12 days!

    

[John Oke]

19 minutes ago, nfitz said:

But, but ... Ottawa LRT only needed 12 days!

    

And look how that turned out, 2 derailments within weeks of each other and the line being shut down for a few months 

[smallspy]

9 hours ago, nfitz said:

But, but ... Ottawa LRT only needed 12 days!

    

You're confusing the two things.

 

The TTC does not need to operate that time without trouble. In fact, they prefer if they have some things go wrong - it give them a chance to practice the various scenarios that they have to come up for service resumption. What it does do though, it provide staff with the opportunity to see how the line will operate during its various modes, as well as finally give the equipment an intensive test to ensure that it does work (and when it doesn't, how will it fail).

 

The Ottawa test was a pretty foolish one. They needed to run the system for quite some time before that in order to debug it. That 12 day period is supposed to be the very last step of the testing and commissioning process - not the beginning of it.

 

Dan

[nfitz]

17 hours ago, John Oke said:

And look how that turned out, 2 derailments within weeks of each other and the line being shut down for a few months 

Gosh ... how many smileys do I have to put that I'm laughing at Ottawa - if not died laughing!

 

8 hours ago, smallspy said:

You're confusing the two things.

Mostly I'm poking fun at Ottawa, and trying to point out an example of not doing enough testing. Perhaps I needed more smileys 

[T3G]

Toronto's Eglinton Crosstown LRT opening may not happen next year

[Cityflyer]

See time-lapse video of Crosstown light rail vehicles moving along Toronto route | Metrolinx News

[drum118]

Dec 7

Caught 6260 + 6262 MU at Birchmount Station waiting to test Kennedy Station. More up on my Flickr site

[Cityflyer]

Metrolinx, Infrastructure Ontario and Crosslinx Transit Solutions settle COVID and technical claims as Eglinton Crosstown Line moves forward | Metrolinx News

[lifty4ever]

The center median at Eglinton and Keelesdale Road (Not to be confused with Keelesdale station) has been cut away at the intersection which allows buses to enter and exit Mount Dennis Station bus terminal to the west and from the east. Prior to this, buses hoping to depart west would've had to head down Photography drive to Black creek. 

[Gil]

I still think the western extension towards Pearson as is is an overspend/overbuild by having the majority of it underground, but here's a piece about the machinery being used to dig said tunnel:

insauga.com: Huge Mississauga tunnel-digging machines now have nicknames

Metrolinx: The names that stuck - winning names for the Eglinton Crosstown West and Scarborough Subway Extension tunnel boring machines revealed

Of course, it being insauga they'd go with the angle that this is a Mississauga project.  Based on the current plans, there isn't even supposed to be a tunnel portion in Mississauga!  The staging area for the line is next to the Renforth Transitway station.

Anyway, the nicknames given to the tunnel-boring machines are Rexy and Renny.  Renny I get with Renforth being one end of the project, Rexy is a bit of a stretch.  If they wanted alliteration sure, but Rexdale seems to be another way to stroke Ford's ego in what's already seen as a pet project of his.  Since Dennis was already used, I guess they could have used Scarlett or Jane?

[STC125]

Delete

 

[STC125]

Oh and from Twitter. Signal installation has been completed.

https://twitter.com/CrosstownTO/status/1494386931421130756?s=20&t=SfVJPCx4Svh61DmmOSh6YA

[GTAmissions1]

6 hours ago, STC125 said:

Operator recruitment for the Crosstown has begun.

It is only fair that transit operators with the most seniority or want to change divisions get first opportunity of operating the Line 5 and 6 trains. Noticed it is OPTO (one person train operation)  which the operator will have to manually walk from one end to the other at terminus stations or certain points if needed to turn back.

A two year commitment required to ensure enough operators are available to operate Line 5.

[Xtrazsteve]

1 hour ago, GTAmissions1 said:

It is only fair that transit operators with the most seniority or want to change divisions get first opportunity of operating the Line 5 and 6 trains. Noticed it is OPTO (one person train operation)  which the operator will have to manually walk from one end to the other at terminus stations or certain points if needed to turn back.

A two year commitment required to ensure enough operators are available to operate Line 5.

Trains are only 60m long for Line 5 and 48m streetcars for Line 6. I don't see this is as big as an issue compare to those 140m TR trains.